Tramping for Treatment....for real.

Ok, rewind before the Kepler Track to where it all began… Queenstown. Turns out that Queenstown had too many choices for the 9 of us- At one point we were standing in the bungee jumping store for 45 minutes without a decision. So we did what any group of 9 young, tramp-loving (get your mind out of the gutter) adults would do: we decided to go on a 36 mile backpacking trip in the rainiest area of the country: the Kepler Track near Te Anau. It was the only ‘great walk’ that was still open through all this rain, so we jumped on it! The guys had met with Kris from Trippin’ for Trout during breakfast, and when they asked him what we should do, he agreed that we should “get the hell outta this town”… great advise.

After a beautiful photo op with the Trippin’ for Trout boys on our way out of town we started our departure from Queenstown. Clearly, the girls decided to turn our 3-hour drive into a little Michael Jackson , Country Wine booze cruise. With the girls singing sweet tunes and the drivers going deaf, we finally made it to Te Anau at 9 o’clock. This all after having to take a detour due to flooding. That should have been our first hint about the massive amounts of rain in the area. We swung by the grocery store to pick up some backpacking food, grabbed a bite to eat at “The Moose”, and somehow found some rooms at the “Barnyard Backpackers Hostel, nestled up in the foothills, of course near some sheep and cows. We woke up first thing in the morning and hit the DOC (Department of CONSERVATION- please forgive my earlier typo) and drove to the trailhead… just about the same time the rain started to fall.

The first 4 miles of the trail on the first day were right along the swollen lake: nice and flat. Then the climb started. We climbed 3000 feet worth of switchbacks through the New Zealand rainforest until we broke through the tree line into the exposed climate. At this point, we were by NO means dry, so we didn’t really mind the extra rain and wind. We knew we were close to the hut at this point, so it gave us some hope. We finally arrived at the Luxmore Hut (sounds luxurious, doesn’t it) where we had some hut-mates who had started up a fire for everyone to hang our wet clothes above. That night we thought the hut might blow over. The wind was howling and the hut was shaking, but it was 200 times better than sleeping in a tent up there. The next morning we jumped up early, hoping for blue skies, but were not happy to see extra clouds and wind. When our “hut master” Jeff came downstairs, I asked him “Hey Jeff (pronounced Jiph), what’s the good word?” He promptly replied, “There is none…. It’s going to be terrible today. Rain, sleet, hail, snow, wind over 50 mph”. Dang it…. Not what we wanted to hear. None the less, we took off up the hill, and climbed an additional 1000 ft to the Luxmore Saddle, where we LITTERALLY THOUGHT WE MIGHT BLOW OFF THE MOUNTAIN.

Seriously, Kyle made us hike in a straight line 2 feet in front of eachther for protection. Every time you thought there was going to be a lull in the gusts, and would peak out from under your rainjacket hood…. The wind would come full force and bitch-slap you in the face. At this point, our hike must seem a little brutal to all of you, but it was absolutely beautiful. There were gorgeous views (if the clouds broke), an amazing trail, and great friends to share it with. We were all drenched to the bone and our muscles were burning- but we were in it together.

After we made it past the saddle and up another ridge, we finally dropped into the trees… but don’t think that helped with the rain. Now, at this point, we were running DOWN the switchbacks, past waterfalls, and heading to the next hut: the Iris Burn hut, where we had two great hutmate couples: an older couple from Australia who had just climbed Kilamajaro, and a young couple from the north island in NZ. You could see numerous beautiful waterfalls all around the hut and a luscious jungle around us… SO BEAUTIFUL.

By the next morning, we were ready to rock the 12 miles of flat terrain. Without the elevation challenges of the days before, this day seems really easy, AND WE EVEN SAW THE SUN!!! It was SO glorious and brightened all of our days. The rain subsided, and we even thought we’d make it to the next hut without being totally drenched…. Then we saw the waist deep water we had that had taken over our trail. Lake Manapouri had swelled WELL over it’s boundaries, and had flooded our track. It was actually quite comical for all of us to cross -just another adventure!

The next hut was right on the lake, and was an amazing little beach house. We ate the last of our dehydrated food, and stayed up REALLY late: like 8:00!

The last morning, the brave trampers without blisters (ie… not me) hiked the last 17 k to the van, (most of which was in waist deep water) while the other half of us hiked the shorter route to another exit point.

We all jumped into the van, and started the dance party in the van back to Queenstown. We were bruised, we were battered, and absolutely exhausted: but we felt GREAT. The only open “great walk” in New Zealand was just that…. It was great. We shared some great struggles and triumphs on this trail, and that of course led to some great laughs. It’s definitely a backpacking trip we will not forget.

Now back in Queenstown, we took a much-needed shower, ate a delicious dinner, and a few brews. The following days will include possible bungee jumping, fishing, maybe a spa day for the girls, and plans for another tramp up north on our way up to the beach house. AND PLUS WE’LL HAVE DAVID GOODMAN HERE TOMORROW!!!